Caught on Tape: Vidalia City Workers Bending the Rules

Three city of Vidalia workers are in trouble over a controversial YouTube video, where cameras were rolling on city workers who were using public equipment to landscape a private home.

The mayor of Vidalia, Hiram Copeland, confirms the authenticity of the tapes, and that all three city workers were given a verbal reprimand. Officials say one of the workers is Vidalia Fire Chief Jack Langston.

NBC 10 tried to reach Langston for comment, but we were told that Langston went on vacation after the release of the YouTube video.

The video on YouTube has been viewed over 400 times, and is titled, “Is It Ethical?”

However, it’s especially making rounds with one man: the mayor of Vidalia himself.

At first, the image is shaky and gritty, but it’s clearly a video recording of a group of men who are doing landscaping work at a private home in Vidalia.

However, upon closer examination, the camera zooms in on the city of Vidalia’s logo on a pickup truck, a city-owned bulldozer, and two uniformed men who are doing yard work on city time, according to the video.

The mayor confirms to NBC 10 that the men are in violation of the law, since it’s illegal to use city equipment on private property, although none of the men were charged criminally.

But some Vidalia residents, like Luvell Lewis and Zachary Robinson, say there’s something that stinks about the clean-up job.

“To me, that YouTube video stinks. We have lots of stuff in Vidalia that needs taking care of in the city that’s never taken care of,” said Robinson. “Well that’s wrong all around. If I were to use the city bulldozer, I’d go to jail. If I used tools that didn’t belong to me, I’d go to jail. They wouldn’t give me a slap on the wrist.”

“It shouldn’t be like that. If you’re at work, you shouldn’t be working at people’s houses. You should be working on the streets here, Vidalia needs work done,” said Lewis.

NBC 10 had more questions for Mayor Copeland: Who was in charge of supervising the city workers? Did the home receiving illegal repairs belong to a city worker or official? Why wasn’t the punishment more severe?

Mayor Copeland wouldn’t comment on any of the questions, except to say that it was a personnel issue. He says every city worker got a memo, warning them against illegal use of city property. He told NBC 10 that the incident won’t happen again.